FAR FROM celebrating the outcome of the fiscal treaty referendum at home, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan is in the US attending the annual conference of the secretive Bilderberg group.

Mr Noonan is one of 145 invited leaders and opinion formers taking part in the four-day get-together of the western world’s movers and shakers in Chantilly, Virginia.

Goldman Sachs chairman and former attorney general Peter Sutherland is also attending from Ireland, as is Paul Gallagher, another former attorney general.

This year’s conference is focused mainly on political, economic and societal issues, according to a press release from the group. Areas to be covered include “austerity and growth” in developed economies; transatlantic relations; the future of democracy; Russia; China; and the Middle East.